King's Wife Kala
by Eien.Rain
Summary: Kala has been taken by the young goblin King to become the next Wife. With high expectiations from the kingdom, will Marak be able to bring her to love him?


Disclaimer: the writer of the _Hollow Kingdom Trilogy_ is obviously not me, but rather Clare B. Dunkel. The characters Kala and Unna were also taken from the pages of the first book, as well as Marak. But the plot to this particular story is mine.

♥ Chapter One ♥

Kala paused yet again on the path, resting her hand gently on a nearby tree trunk as she turned around and glanced behind her. The feeling would not leave her. She felt that something was definitely watching. But what could it be? There was certainly nothing there that she could see. She turned, let go of the tree, and began to walk again. It was ridiculous. No one wandered on these grounds that did not own them, or work them. Some even said that they were cursed; that all beautiful young girls who strolled through the forests disappeared and never returned. There were various retellings of why that was—monsters, fairy music that trapped them up in its tune and never again let them free, or even the occasional telling of ugly goblins who would take the girls away and kill them for jealousy of their beauty. Ridiculous.

Alright, it was ridiculous, but that did not mean that the feeling would be going away, Kala reflected, turning her eyes from side to side, looking for the unknown source of discomfort. And it did not go away.

Kala stopped walking suddenly and looked around wildly. The path was gone! She did not recall leaving it, but as she looked around, it was nowhere in sight. Her breath came in sharply, she looked around dazedly. The feeling was stronger. Something was _there_.

"Hello."

Kala spun, eyes wide as she tried to focus on the cause of the voice, her breath coming in shakily as she met the smiling face not three feet from her.

"What…." Kala gasped, terror obvious on her features. She automatically stepped back.

"What, indeed?" he mused, still smiling. Then he took on a concerned face. "Kala, maybe you should sit. You don't look well at all."

"Who...?" she said faintly, before following his advice and sitting on a fallen log. Had that been there before? She shook her head in disbelief. She was face to face with then most…indescribable…_thing_ she had ever seen and she was pondering about the scenery. "How do you know my name?" she asked, more sensibly

"'Who'? Not 'what'?" he asked. He watched her sit, but stayed standing himself. As he looked her over, he noted that her large eyes were a dark, swirling grey color. Her black hair had been pulled back in a long plait, but had come undone in her hours of wandering the forest. When she did not answer him—he had not expected her to, really—he proceeded to answer her question.

"My name is Marak," he said, meeting her eyes. He smiled kindly, and saw the confusion amongst other emotions flicker across her eyes. She looked away. "I am King Marak, of the goblins." Then, after a second of hesitation, he said bluntly, "and you are going to be my wife."

Her eyes snapped back up, and looked at him, back and forth between his two golden eyes. She gained what little of her voice back, and said flatly, "I most certainly am not. I have no intention of following this game any further! Good day to you, _goblin King_." Kala turned on her heel, prepared to walk away, when she heard his step behind her. He placed his hand on her shoulder, bringing her back around, before laying his other hand on her forehead. And then she fell asleep.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

"No, make sure that the water is warm. Be gentle, too- she is quite energetic." The warm fingers on her brow moved away, making her forehead all of the sudden cold. She opened her eyes slowly, expecting her father's face to swim into view. But, to her horror, the now-familiar face of the so-called goblin King looked down at her. "Good evening, Kala. Have a nice sleep?" she didn't answer. "I am glad for that." He said easily, ignoring her silence. He stood up, and pulled her along with him. She fell into him as they stood, and he wrapped his arm automatically around her waist. As Kala looked around, she took in the large room, but the thing that instantly captured her attention was the woman—no, goblin, right?—in front of her.

"This is my mother," Marak introduced, gesturing at the beautiful figure. "Unna. That means 'vine' in Elfish."

"Elf?" Kala squeaked. Goblins and elves?

Unna came closer and took Kala from Marak's arms. "Hello," she said. Her voice was somehow musical. Then she turned to her son. "I will continue from here. You go on, see that everything is done, won't you?"

"Of course. Be friendly," he added, in a joking tone. Unna smiled brightly at him as he turned and left the chamber.

"Well. Now that he is gone," Unna said, squeezing Kala's wrist. "Let us get you into the bath. It will help you relax."

As Kala sunk into the steaming water, she suddenly realized that it was not a dream. The goblin had…not _proposed_, for that had hardly been an inquiry. He hadn't really given her a choice in answers. She sat up, and met eyes with Marak's mother. Boldly, she said, "I am not going to marry your son. I really must go—my father must be very worried. It is getting late, and…" she trailed off, seeing the sadness cascade into Unna's eyes.

"Oh, dear Kala," she sighed. "Marak wanted to explain it to you, but you-- understandably, of course—tried to leave, and he did not get the chance. He wanted to explain to you the importance of a King's Wife, and why…. Well, it is too late now."

"Too late?" Kala echoed, nervous. "For wh-…. I… I really need to go back home. You have been very kind, helping me with a bath, but I really…"

"My husband," Unna interrupted, and Kala fell silent, "was the last King." She spoke quietly, softly. "He was also a goblin, of course, and when I first came here, I hated him. He did what my son never wanted to do—he just came one night, with his officers, and grabbed me from the ground. I had been picking flowers, with my sister Eika, and they came so suddenly…." Her eyes were distant in memory. Kala felt her stomach turn into knots. She had hated her husband, and yet they had a son? What… "Here, begin washing while I speak. Marak will not want to delay." Unna handed Kala a washcloth, and grabbed up a soap of sorts to run through Kala's hair. "Well. After I was captured—they left my sister, you see. She was already wed—they brought me here. To this very chamber, in fact. Marak—my husband Marak—left me with two goblin women and his own mother, Clodia, a human. And then, I was taken into the King's Wife Ceremony. That is, your wedding."

Unna stopped as she released Kala so that she could wash the soap from her long hair. When Kala resurfaced, Unna helped her from the tub and handed her a thick towel to cover herself and began to dry her hair with another. "Marak was very good to me," she said happily. "He was wonderful. He taught me numbers, and how to use my magic more fully. He was kind, and always explained things to me, and let me roam around the kingdom and have whatever fun I would…. And in return, I found, not four months later, that I had fallen in love with him." Unna met Kala's eyes squarely. "No, it is not always like that—though I assure you that the Kings are most usually not the ones at fault. Ugly they may be, but they have been raised well. No one could bear the weight of a kingdom on his shoulders and not come through as a caring and just, wonderful person.

Including my son Marak."

Kala listened intently, amazed at the story. But one thing caught her attention. "Ugly?" she questioned. Marak was not handsome, but ugly he was not. "Marak was not _ugly_."

Unna laughed, almost startling Kala at the abrupt sound. "Oh, Kala. That is right. You have not seen your subjects yet." She began to comb through Kala's hair. "No, Marak is not ugly. In fact, he's very handsome for a goblin. It's never happened to a King before. But Marak's father Marak was not handsome at all. Very little hair, sharp, silver teeth…" she stopped describing her late husband after seeing the expression on Kala's face.

"You loved him?" she asked.

"Very, very much." Unna said with such a tone that Kala absolutely believed her. Unna had finished with her hair—leaving a strand down in the front that tickled Kala's throat as she moved—and her dress, and now beckoned her to join her in leaving the room. Kala joined her, excited and anxious to be leaving. Outside the doors were guards, who immediately took Kala by the arm and led her. She was too shocked to protest. She gaped at their distorted faces and fought back the scream rising in her throat. One had a face like a cat, with bulbous eyes and long white whiskers and fur. The other had a beak, and pocked skin. His hair was thick, like a pelt, and covered him everywhere.

"You know," Unna continued, "Marak is now the youngest King the kingdom has ever known." She paused, and then continued. "When the goblin King dies, his son becomes the King immediately after. Goblins very rarely take ill, but… my husband did. It was all very sudden, but… well, Marak has now been King for less than six months. The youngest King we've ever known. But everyone is worried. My husband died suddenly, and they are afraid that Marak, though he is of excellent health, might die without an heir. And then the kingdom would be lost. That is one reason why he now needs a wife."

"Unna," Kala said softly. She was getting uncomfortable." When can I go back home?"

Unna looked at her strangely. "He did not even explain that?" she shook her head. "Kala…you are about to marry the King of the goblins. You will live with him, here, for the rest of your life, and bear a single child to be the heir of the kingdom. But you will never return to the land beyond this kingdom. That is not possible."

Kala shook her head in disbelief. "That is not so. I have said that I will not marry this King. I only wish to return to Hallow Hill." Unna did not answer. Getting desperate, she tried, "Really, thank you for everything. I am most sorry for the death of Marak, and I wish Marak the best luck for finding his own wife. But—" They reached a tall door and stopped. The door was opened, and the monstrous guards led her inside. Unna told her in farewell that she would be present at the wedding, and she would see her soon. Kala was feeling sick.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

_Okay, that's the end of this chapter. Just so everyone knows, I suffer from writer's block, but I intend to update this one regularly. I'm so excited to write a Hollow_ _Kingdom_ _fic! This is my first one for these books, and I hope you enjoy reading. Oh, if you're wondering where I got Kala and Unna, they are among Charm's favorite King's Wives that he names in the end of the first book. Oh, the next chapter will be after the ceremony. Please review!_

_Love,_

_Eien.Rain_


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